Dear researchers,
As you know there was a massive earthquake near the Tohoku region in
northeast Japan (about 230 miles from Tokyo) on March 11 which was followed
quickly by a tsunami. The quake, initially measured at 8.9, was been updated
on March 14th to 9.0. This magnitude places the earthquake as the fourth
largest in the world since 1900 and the largest in Japan since modern
instrumental recordings began 130 years ago.
These devastating events resulted in widespread destruction near the
epicenter and beyond with a great loss of life (estimated to be at least
10,000.) Numerous sizeable aftershocks continue in the region and are
affecting areas with significant population densities beyond the original
large event. Instabilities at several nuclear power plants continue to
present serious danger to Japan (and possibly, the rest of the world.) These
events are undoubtedly affecting many of our Japanese colleagues in the
Arabidopsis community.
I contacted Kazuo Shinozaki (RIKEN, Yokohama) the Japanese representative to
the Multinational Arabidopsis Steering Committee (MASC) to see if the
international Arabidopsis community can help. Although earthquakes also took
place in the Yokohama and Tsukuba areas, Dr. Shinozaki reports that the
damage isn't as great as that in the Sendai area/Miyagi prefecture. This
was also the site of the 52nd annual meeting of the Japanese Society of
Plant Physiologists, scheduled for this weekend (March 20). The meeting has
been canceled due to severe devastation in the area. Dr. Shinozaki replied
that they will be sure to ask for help when they need it.
I encourage you, if you are interested in helping, to contact major
reputable sources of international aid to Japan.
A source of information on seismic activity is the US Geological Service:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/
Joanna Friesner, PhD